1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shear element for dry shavers and hair cutters used to remove hair at soft, yielding skin areas, e.g., the neck and armpits. Such shear elements are frequently provided with slot-shaped hair inlets, having an entry zone for initially receiving and guiding the hair shafts and a cutting zone adjacent a cutter bar. They may be shear combs having slots opening to one side which are fabricated from flat material or fabricated by bending thin metal sheets. Alternatively, they may be shear foils in which the hair inlet openings are provided as slots having a closed circumference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shear elements having slot-shaped hair inlets are known in the art. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,292,858. A drawback encountered with the use of such shear elements is that small folds of the user's skin may reach the cutting zone along with the hair and thus be injured or irritated.
One approach to overcoming this drawback is to make the inlet openings relatively small. However, the shear effect is thereby severely impaired.
Great Britain Pat. No. 496,350 shows slot-shaped inlet openings designed with a one-sided curvature of sickle shape or at a slant to the main direction of operation of the device to thereby impede the entry of skin folds into the cutting zone.
However, practical experience has shown that, if a skin fold has entered the inlet opening due to circular or eratic directional movements of the shaving device, the skin fold can easily follow the slanted or one-sidedly curving pattern of the inlet opening to reach the cutting zone and there be injured or irritated.